MODERN-CIVITAS: Mobility, Development and Energy use Reduction

The MODERN Project – MObility, Development and Energy use ReductioN – was developed in the context of the CIVITAS PLUS Program and includes Coimbra, located in the Centre Region of Portugal, as one the participant cities. One of the main tasks of the MODERN Project is the integration of renewable energies in the trolleybus traction lines and in the electric battery operated mini-buses. Given the nearby hydropower resource of the Mondego river, a study was carried out in order to assess the technical and economic feasibility of hydropower production at an already existing multi-purpose mobile dam-bridge, located in the northwest of Coimbra, where eventually a very low head run-of-river small-hydropower plant can be installed. As the main civil works have already been done, the hydropower installation costs will be significantly reduced because the expenses will mainly resume to hydro-mechanical, hydro-electrical and electrical equipment, with expected low hydraulic structure impact, as well as minimum environmental and visual impacts. The optimization of the hydroelectric production will take in to account the seasonal water supply demands for agricultural, municipal and industrial use, the water discharges from the upstream reservoir system of Aguieira–Raiva–Fronhas, the very low head turbines available technology, the physical constraints of the structure and the special feed-in tariff for renewable power plants. The small-hydropower plant, coupled with the electric public urban transportation fleet, will contribute to a sustainable mobility concept, reducing electric grid transportation losses by decentralized production and reducing green gases emissions, contributing to urban air quality improvement and to the Kyoto Protocol fulfilment.